


Distraction

by rhodrymavelyne



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:13:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27397021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhodrymavelyne/pseuds/rhodrymavelyne
Summary: Will Graham accepts a stranger’s advances, hoping to distract himself from Hannibal, but there’s no getting away from Hannibal. Especially when the stranger hitting on you was part of Baltimore’s cultural arts community.
Relationships: Dr. Frederick Chilton/Will Graham, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham/Mystery Man in Baltimore
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	Distraction

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place somewhere around Apertivo after Hannibal fled and his victims are all trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. I don’t own Hannibal but for months it has owned me.

Visiting the music store had the feeling of a quest, of reaching out for a former self Will had long forgotten. Anything to distract himself, to forget being wrapped in warm arms, the sharpness of the blade, and the warmth of Abigail’s blood spraying over him.

“Close your eyes,” Hannibal had whispered to him. “Wade into the quiet of the stream.”

Only the stream was nowhere to be found. Only lies and people talking at him. Hadn’t there been an arrest warrant with his name on it? Alana had warned him, he and Jack were about to be arrested. 

Who’d cared for the dogs while he was in the hospital? Alana and Jack had been hospitalized as well. He didn’t have that many friends. 

“I told you you needed a friend.” Frederick Chilton had been waiting for him at his house, dogs swarming around him, wagging their tails. They all seemed to like Frederick, even Winston. “I made certain your dogs were fed, Will. Consider it a gesture of good faith.”

If only he didn’t have that hungry, speculative look in his eyes, roaming over Will from head to toe, lingering on his abdomen, seeking out the very spot where Hannibal drove the knife in. 

Still it didn’t mean Will wasn’t grateful. “Thank you.”

“I noticed the piano sitting there untuned.” Frederic shuffled, looking away, almost awkward. “I play, too.”

“It’s been a while.” Will wasn’t sure why he said this, except Frederick was making an effort. In his way. “I’m rusty.”

“Perhaps this would be a good time to practice.” Frederick looked down at the keys. “There’s a music store in downtown Baltimore. You could pick up some sheet music.”

“I’d like to hear you play.” Abigail was standing there, right next to him, even though no one could hear her. “You’ve never played for me before.”

He couldn’t refuse Abigail, even if he wasn’t sure she was real. 

After Frederick left, Will headed for downtown Baltimore and looked for the music shop. It wasn't hard to find. 

He went down the aisles, past various instruments until he found a selection of booklets. One of the covers was a familiar pale blue. 

As hard as a blow to the cheek came the memory of Hannibal with a bloody face sitting down in front of his harpsichord.

“I was worried you were dead.” How luminous his dark eyes were, how vulnerable he looked, even when utterly composed. “I tried not to cut too deep, but you hurt me, Will. Hurt me more than I believed possible.”

Will shut his eyes. 

“Are you all right?” A young man wandered over, giving him a slow once-over. “You seem a little lost.”

“I am,” Will smiled, avoiding the stranger’s gaze, studying his slim hands. Very like Hannibal’s.

“Not fond of eye contact, are you?”

Will jerked his head up as if he’d been slapped.

The stranger smiled at him, a little harried. “Sorry. That was too forward.”

“It’s all right,” Will said, not sure why he said it. It wasn’t all right, but that’s the sort of thing you said, wasn’t it? 

“Only to strangers,” Abigail murmured in his ear. “Maybe you shouldn’t be alone right now.”

“Maybe,” Will cocked his head to the side, allowed himself to smile a little. “Have to move forward.” 

“Why don’t we go outside?” The young man reached out. Will tried to study his face, his thick nose, the glasses, the heavy lips. Hannibal had such full, almost sensuous lips. All the better to eat everybody with. 

Will felt his smile twisting on his face, but he let the stranger take his arm, lead him outside. He stumbled a little, finding himself pressing against the other man. 

At any moment, he’d feel the knife, but it wasn’t Hannibal.  


“Whoa,” the stranger said, not really seeming to mind. He didn’t let Will go either. “Is this what you want?”

“I don’t know,” Will moistened his lips, parted them, held onto the stranger’s arm. “Is this what you want?”

Hitting on strangers who helped him out of shops he’d never been in, this wasn’t like him at all.

Right now he’d really like to be someone other than Will Graham.

“Well, if you’re game, to be honest I’m fairly on edge myself right now.” The stranger guided him into the privacy of the alley behind the shop. “Maybe we can distract each other.”

He reached out to touch Will’s face. 

Will flinched, the memory of Hannibal’s touch brushing him through this stranger’s fingers. No. He would not be haunted. He would allow someone else to touch him, someone real. 

The young man leaned forward, to touch his lips to Will’s. 

Will allowed himself to be kissed, tried to abandon himself to the sensation of the warm, willing mouth, here and now. To forget the spell of other lips, whispering words that burrowed into his mind, dark eyes that found him and fixed him within his memories. 

“I am always here, Will. No matter whose arms you throw yourself into, I am always there.”

He shuddered in the arms of his would-be lover, swayed on his feet. 

“Maybe this isn’t a good idea.” The young man steadied him. “You seem distracted.”

“I’m always distracted.” Will forced himself to smile at this stranger. Yes, he was attractive just as Alana Bloom had been attractive. Attractive, a little too kind, and oblivious to what he was getting himself into. 

“Guess we’ve both got other people on our minds.” The young man smiled a little sadly and drew back. He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m a little distracted myself.”

“Why?” Will asked, surprised at his own directness but why not? Why not let someone else’s problems take him away from his pain? 

“I got a huge shock recently.” The stranger offered Will a fragile smile of his own. “I found out a friend was not what he seemed.” 

Will gazed at him, feeling his stomach sink. 

“Baltimore is a small town and the cultural arts community is even smaller.” It had been Tobias Budge who’d said that. This young man was wearing an expensive watch and jacket, he might be a member of that community. He might know Hannibal.

“It’s surreal, almost. This friend was handsome, elegant, accomplished in every way, and do you know what he was?” The stranger gazed at Will, daring him to answer.

“What?” Will felt the hair raising on his arms in anticipation of the answer.

“He was a serial killer. The Chesapeake Ripper, of all things.” The young man ran his hands through his hair, hands which trembled. “I went to every one of his dinner parties, never imagining what he was serving.” He let out a shaky laugh. “Or rather whom.” 

There was no escape. Even this stranger who’d come onto him in a music shop was connected to Hannibal. 

“You know what the creepiest thing was?” The young man ran his hands through his hair again, avoiding Will’s gaze. “I always found him attractive. Guess I was lucky nothing ever came of it.”

“Lucky,” Will repeated, not really seeing the stranger, understanding what he was saying.

“I’m sorry to go off on a tangent like that. What did you say your name was?” The man attempted to smile. “What were you seeking distraction from?”

“Will Graham. I was one of Hannibal Lecter’s patients.” Will offered the other man a tight smile. “I’m not sure how much distraction we have to offer each other.”

He turned his back and walked off in the opposite direction.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't say this is an original male character because this is one of the guests which was at both of Hannibal's dinner parties in Sorbet and Futamono. Can you guess which one? ;)
> 
> The lines "Close your eyes. Wade into the quiet of the stream" are from Mizumono.
> 
> "Not fond of eye contact?" is what Hannibal asked Will in Apertíf when they first met. 
> 
> The scene where Hannibal said "I was worried you were dead" was from Fromage.


End file.
